July17th 1981

The usual substantial breakfast, van Groenou style, and then a lazy morning, for me at any rate.  Val was busy making pasties – we’d bought the vital ingredients during our headlong dash through the city the previous evening.  Bill returned from work at about 1, and we ate lunch.  Val had made the pastry slightly too wet, but still the pasties were delicious, to my mind (and tongue, and stomach) at least.  During the next hour or two, we packed the camper, and then we were off, to Yosemite for the weekend!  Even with 6 of us, the journey was very comfortable, and the extra space kept the kids from being too grumpy, tho’ on the debit side it did mean that they were able to run around more.  They both had the habit of coming forward and sitting next to Bill as he was driving, a practice that I think was dangerous.  However, they were reasonably well-behaved.  We stopped at a large reservoir about 50 miles from Yosemite and stretched our legs.  The difference in the weather was enormous.  When we had left, it had been a grey, overcast day, but now it was bright and sunny, and incredibly hot.  After 10 mins or so, we pushed on, and stopped for the night at about 6, at a campsite in Stanislaus National Forest, still 30 miles or so from the entrance to the park.  The campsite was virtually empty, and very well laid out, with each camping space (and they were well-distanced from each other) with a table and barbecue fire place.  Bill lit a fire to ward off the mosquitoes who had attacked us from the moment we arrived, and we sat down to a fine meal – pasties, bread, cheese, meat, wine, yogurt + honey.  After dinner, Bill, Val, Aneema and I played a card game, a sort of super trendy happy families.  It made a nice evening – warm and friendly.  Then we all arranged our beds in the camper, and so to sleep.

Just adding a touch of sanctimonious advice to my already noted disregard for children, even when they are “well-behaved” – ah well.